There are a number of automatic and semi-automatic firearms used by military personnel as well as civilians. While fully automatic firearms are generally illegal for use by the civilian population, many of the components which constitute an automatic firearm are the same as those found with legal semi-automatic models. Arguably the most popular semi-automatic assault-type firearm used by civilians, particularly within the United States, is the AR-15. The AR-15 is the semi-automatic variant of the fully automatic M16 firearm used by United States military personnel. (AR-15 is a registered trademark of Colt Industries. A number of additional manufacturers manufacture clones of the AR-15 and market these clones under separate trademarks. While used throughout the specification, it is to be understood that the term AR-15 is meant to include not only those firearms manufactured by Colt Industries, but also those additional clones and any variants thereof).
The AR-15 and M16 are designed as modular firearms generally comprising a buttstock, lower receiver, upper receiver and barrel assembly. Each component is separable from one another and affords firearm owners the opportunity to customize the firearm with after-market components such as barrels of differing lengths, upper receivers designed to handle different calibers of ammunition, flashlights, hand guards, grenade or flare launchers, flash or sound suppressors, grips, and front or rear sights. To operate, the lower receiver is configured to include a trigger wherein activation of the trigger causes a cartridge housed within the chamber of the upper receiver to be fired out the barrel of the firearm by action of a reciprocating bolt carrier group. Internal mechanisms of the upper receiver expel the shell casing of the fired cartridge from the chamber while components engaged with the magazine housed within the magazine well of the lower receiver feed a new cartridge into the now-empty chamber. The buttstock mounts to the lower receiver and includes a buffer assembly and action (or recoil) spring in communication with the bolt carrier group where the spring pushes the bolt carrier group back toward the chamber in preparation of firing another cartridge.
To date, most automatic and semi-automatic firearms, like the AR-15, have been configured to fire rifle cartridges. Attempts to modify these firearms, and particularly the AR-15, to fire shotgun shells have run into a number of problems. For instance, AR-15 have been modified to accommodate .410 bore shells but these modifications require lower receivers which no longer satisfy military specifications. Other modifications continue to result in jamming or binding of the shotgun shells when a shell has been fired, is being ejected, or is being extracted from the magazine and loaded within the chamber.
As such, there is a need for a shotgun shell magazine which is configured to mount within a lower receiver, such as that of an M-16 or AR-15, having a magazine well meeting military specifications. The present invention addresses these and other needs.